Uncanny Resemblance
by Tez-gm
Summary: ONE-SHOT: Harry and Remus finally have that talk about the Easter battle, and find that their lives mirror each other in more ways than one. Fits in at the start of chapter 13 of my ‘Beginning of the End’ story for those interested.


This is my second one-shot, inspired by...nothing really. I just decided to write the discussion that (I perceive) took place between Harry and Remus about the Easter battle, along with other things. Unlike 'Best Thing', this does kind of tie into my other fics…but it's not critical to the stories. I just did it for a break from my prequel, which I reckon I'm around halfway through with. But, like 'Best Thing', I do try to play the emotional game with this…although I'm not sure if I was all that successful.

Again, Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling, and no amount of dreaming will change that. A couple of things; there's no Hermione in this. Just imagine that she's reading in her room or something (I just couldn't really be bothered including her in this). Also, yes I know Remus was involved in the Whomping Willow incident, but he didn't _knowingly_ do it, which is what I meant for that bit.

* * *

**Uncanny Resemblance**

Ron, Ginny and Harry were just over halfway through the second 'Star Wars' movie when the voice of Molly Weasley could be heard, "Ron, Ginny, are you down there?"

"Yes Mum," Ron replied as Harry stopped the tape.

"Fred and George want to know if you'd like to help out in their shop after lunch."

Ron gave Harry a look and he nodded at the redhead. "We can watch the rest tomorrow if you want."

"Thanks Harry," Ron said, while Ginny answered her mother. "Yeah, that sounds fine, Mum. We'll come up and get ready then."

Ron and Ginny then both said their goodbyes to Harry before climbing the ladder out of the trunk. Harry switched the television off and was about to follow his friends when he spotted Remus browsing through Trent's music.

"See anything you like?"

Remus chuckled. "Yes, actually. Quite a few of these songs I can remember from visiting James and Lily." He then sighed and closed his eyes, "Sorry Harry, I shouldn't have…"

"Actually, that's kind of what I wanted to talk about," he interrupted.

"Oh, what would you like to know?" Remus said, blinking open his eyes in surprise.

"Why it took you so long to contact me."

Remus sighed and closed his eyes again, remembering with painful clarity those days. Harry sat in silence, waiting for Remus to speak again. "It wasn't from a lack of trying, believe me. Dumbledore didn't want any magical people to visit you."

"But you're a Marauder! Surely you could've…"

"I did. And I managed to see you on the odd occasion. You remember that park near where you lived?"

Harry nodded and Remus continued, "I went there nearly every week, hoping just to see you. It was hard, Harry, I won't lie to you."

"Why?"

"I wanted so much to take you in, but my condition prevented that. That and I'd also lost everyone that had ever truly cared about me."

"Oh, right. Sorry, Remus, I didn't realise," Harry said, noting Remus blinking away tears as he remembered those years.

"It wasn't your fault, Harry, I was being selfish. You just reminded me of James and Lily so much, and every time I saw you…" Remus trailed his voice as a lump formed in his throat.

"For nearly three years I drank myself into depression. I didn't want to believe what had happened. I hoped to wake up and find it was all just a big joke, and that nothing had really happened. I…I nearly…" Remus' voice choked up, unable to finish.

"Nearly what, Remus?" Harry gently asked.

Tears were freely streaming down Remus' face by this time. Harry was unsure about what to do, but put a comforting arm around his shoulder.

"I…I wanted to…to end it all," he whispered.

Harry sucked in a breath with what Remus had said.

"It…it hurt so much, Harry. Since I couldn't take you in, it made me that much more determined to make sure you were safe. You were the only thing that kept me going, Harry. That was why I built the mansion, it was a stress relief. I never thanked you for all that when I was teaching you."

Harry felt tears welling up in his own eyes with the raw emotion Remus was talking with. He had never had anyone who loved him like that…except Sirius, and, unfortunately, _that_ relationship was cut off rather savagely.

"You're more than welcome, Remus. After all, it was your teaching that saved me and Sirius from the Dementors that night. I guess that makes us even."

"Hardly. No one should have gone through what you did. Even when my parents were killed, I…"

"What? I never knew that," Harry interrupted. He had never heard Remus talk about his past like this before.

"It happened just before my seventh year began. It appears that Sirius' brother was able to find out where I lived, and since Severus thought I was a part of the Whomping Willow incident…"

Remus let his voice trail off while Harry nodded in understanding. "Snape certainly knows how to make peoples lives miserable. I can't imagine how hard that would have been…"

"I'm pretty sure you do actually," the older wizard cut in.

Harry shook his head. "I doubt it, Remus. I mean, with me I never really knew my parents to begin with."

The two of them sat in silence again, each lost in their own thoughts before Harry looked over at Remus and smiled. "We're quite similar in many ways, aren't we?"

It was more a statement than a question, one his Professor disagreed with. "You've had it harder than me, Harry."

"I don't think so, Remus. Yes my childhood wasn't pleasant, but I didn't have to go through anything like you did every month."

"And I don't have a Dark Lord intent on killing me," Remus answered with a small smile.

"True. I've heard the transformation compares to being hit with Crucio."

"Not having had the _pleasure_ of being cursed with that, I can't confirm or deny it."

"And not having been bitten, nor can I."

Remus looked at Harry incredulously. "You…you've had the Cruciatus Curse cast on you?"

Harry nodded, "By Voldemort himself. Actually, he's hit me with all three now that I think about it."

"Imperius as well?" Remus asked, now both surprised and concerned.

"Yeah, but I managed to throw it off."

Remus' mouth fell open in shock when Harry said that. He quickly shook out of his stupor and the two of them sat in silence again until Harry spoke. "Can I ask where you got bitten?"

"Left upper arm. I almost wish my brother and I…"

"You have a brother?"

"_Had_ a brother," he corrected instantly.

"Oh, sorry."

"No, it's all right. We shouldn't have been wandering around outside anyway," Remus sadly replied.

"How…"

"I was seven," he answered before looking over at Harry and smiling shyly. "Sorry, telepathy and all that."

Harry smiled back and nodded. Again, a silence came between them. Again, it was Harry who broke it. "That's what it comes down to in the end, isn't it?"

Remus looked at Harry with an eyebrow raised.

"Kill or be killed. After Lestrange, I'm not sure if I can cope with that."

"We're at war. You did what you felt was right…"

"But I didn't need to be that..."

"Heat of the moment, Harry. She would have done the same to you if she was in your position. Remember what she's done in the past; the Longbottoms, Sirius…"

Remus trailed his voice off at this stage as he looked over at the young wizard.

Harry nodded dumbly in reply. He could feel tears stinging his eyes as he remembered that night in the Department of Mysteries all too clearly.

"You know what the last thing he told me was?" Remus asked him.

Harry shook his head, not trusting his voice at this stage.

"He said; 'Moony, if we get there and he's got even one scratch, I'm going to find the bastard who did it and castrate them, even if it's a witch'. He loved you, Harry."

"I…I know, and I never even told him that."

"He knew."

Harry nodded his head as tears started to trail down his face. He wiped his eyes and looked over at Remus, finding him doing the exact same thing.

"You think I can do it?" he sniffed.

"Are you asking if there's anyone else I would trust with the job of defeating Voldemort once and for all?"

Harry nodded again.

"To tell you the truth, no, there isn't. You would be the one person above all others I'd trust with that job," Remus answered after a brief moment of thought.

"Why?"

"Because of your parents. Lily was an exceptional witch, reminds me in many ways to Hermione. While James, well, he could be extraordinarily brilliant when he put his mind to things other than pranks. Both were incredibly stubborn at times too."

Harry had to smile when Remus said that last part. Both were lost in their thoughts until Harry brought up the prophecy again. "If I do this, I'm half expecting the Ministry to chuck me in Azkaban for murdering him."

"They won't. After all, Dumbledore didn't spend any time in there after killing Grindelwald."

Remus then smiled wryly at Harry before continuing. "Besides, messing with the person who defeated Voldemort wouldn't exactly be a wise move in my opinion."

"It's the lesser of two evils though, isn't it? To kill him, I have to become a monster in the process."

"I'll tell you the same thing Trent told me in my final year, Harry; you're not a monster, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"But…"

"No buts, Harry. As you said, it's the lesser of two evils. Think of how many lives you will save once you beat him."

"At least one of us is confident that I can do it," Harry muttered in reply.

"You sound like your father did when Trent was teaching us the Patronus charm," Remus remarked.

"I didn't think he was a Professor when he was there in your final year?"

"He wasn't, but he gave us some additional training. He was the reason James was able to produce his Patronus."

"What form did it take?"

"Padfoot," Remus fondly replied with a smile, which Harry returned.

"Remus, can I ask a favour?" the young wizard asked after another short silence.

"Certainly," he answered.

"Since I never really got the chance to know Sirius that well, I…well, I was kind of hoping for…for us to have that chance."

"I'd like that, Harry. And I believe that Lily, Prongs, Padfoot and even Wormtail would have my head if I didn't," he replied with a broad smile while Harry stifled a laugh.

Again, silence fell before Remus stood up and smiled. "Thank you, Harry."

"What for?"

"For listening. I haven't spoken about those days to anyone, but now I have, I feel quite a bit better for it."

"You're welcome, and thanks also."

"For listening?" Remus enquired.

"Well, that too. But mainly for talking to me about it."

"It was you who said we're similar…"

"And we are. You lost your best friends, while I lost my parents."

Remus sighed. "We can't change the past Harry, we have to focus on the present," he said, more to himself than the young wizard. "By the way, where did you get up to with your movie?"

"Around halfway."

"So I guess if I tell you that Vader is Luke's father…"

"HE'S WHAT?'!"

Remus smiled before starting to laugh. Harry just glared at the man in front of him. "That _isn't_ funny, Remus. Saying that is like saying that Voldemort's _my_ father. Too farfetched, even for a movie," Harry replied before climbing up the ladder to exit the trunk.

He didn't hear Remus whisper, "About as farfetched as the idea of having a teenager save the Wizarding world," before he too climbed the ladder.

_**Fin**_


End file.
